A Change of Heart
by Shadow Oblivion
Summary: Riku is injured while protecting Sora, and an unexpected response during recovery soon leads Sora to question his relationship with his friend. Sora x Riku. Hints of Kairi x Lea. AU-ish, post-KH3D. Some ooc


So…the thought popped into my head of what if Riku was injured while protecting Sora, but the injuiries were worse than they had been in KH2, and this long one-shot came into existence. I mean, seriously, Riku didn't even hesitate when he blocked that attack from Xemnas in KH2 and took that blow to the back, and that had to have hurt like hell. And don't even get me started on Dream Drop Distance-it's what made me finally write this in the first place.

Hopefully most of it this will be IC though obviously there will be some OOC (such as the idea of this ever happening and the attempt at a -short- lemon later on). For purposes of this story, Riku is 19 and Sora is 18.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Kingdom Hearts series.

X-x-x-x

No matter how much Sora tried to blame himself for what had happened, Riku wasn't about to let him feel guilty about it, as it really hadn't been his fault.

Riku and Sora had been stationed in Radiant Garden by Yen Sid over a year ago, to keep an eye out for Xehanort. Since their last encounter, they hadn't seen any of their enemies, but all of them knew that it was only a matter of time before they would have to battle. So far, however, nothing had happened, which gave Kairi and Axel time to practice with their Keyblades, overseen by Yen Sid. No one let their guard down, as no one wanted to be caught off guard again, like with Riku and Sora's Mark of Mastery exam.

As time went by, the days in Radiant Garden became routine for Riku, though there wasn't as much to do other than fend off Heartless, but at least there were more places to go than being stuck on a group of islands. Riku's day always started out with trying to figure out where Sora had gotten to. Of course, the majority of the time Riku would merely find his friend snoozing the day away, though sometimes the silver-haired teen would find Sora being more productive. Sora had been training hard, after all, wanting to eventually be recognized as a true Keyblade Master.

Riku yawned and turned over in bed in a vain attempt to block out the early morning sunlight that streamed through half open curtains. Riku, after a few minutes of being unable to go back to sleep, sat up with a sigh and ran a hand through his short hair. He smirked sleepily when he remembered Kairi and Sora's reactions to his new haircut. Kairi thought the look was refreshing, saying it had been a little long, whereas Sora seemed almost disappointed, but Riku was sure that he had imagined it, as Sora had almost immediately teased him about how it was good he cut it, so no one would mistake him for a girl. To which Riku flexed his muscles and said Sora was more likely to be mistaken for one if he had grown his hair out more.

Riku padded around his room, trying to find his clothing, smirking a little as he searched. Sora had been up late last night, so perhaps he'd go give his friend a wakeup call and get him to spar with him. Riku, having dressed and given his hair an irritable flick of his head, left his room and went down the hall of the inn, to Sora's room, and knocked. Receiving no response, Riku opened the unlocked door and found that Sora wasn't there. Frowning a little bit, Riku left and shut the door, heading down the staircase, and passing by Leon on the way down.

"If you're looking for Sora, he's already left. I hope he at least remembers to stay clear of the cliffs outside of town. There's an unusually high amount of Heartless there." Leon shook his head at the idea of Sora actually listening to him, and disappeared into one of the bedrooms.

Riku immediately left the inn, and headed out of town. From what Leon had said it sounded like Sora had gone off to train for the day. Riku doubted that Sora could have gotten very far, and was fully expecting to find Sora sprawled out somewhere, fast asleep. This meant Riku would have to wake him up again. Instead, Riku, after arriving at the cliffs, found Sora being overwhelmed on all sides by a multitude of Heartless. Riku could tell that Sora was barely able to hold off the attacks and prevent them from causing any serious damage. Time seemed to blur as Riku rushed forward.

"Riku?"

The silver-haired teen had taken Keyblade in hand and had dove recklessly into the midst of the Heartless, heedless of his own safety. Riku wasn't about to let some lousy Heartless harm Sora if he could be around to prevent it from happening.

"Riku!"

A voice? There shouldn't be any words to be said in a battle.

Riku blinked in confusion, coming back to the present, and wondered how in the world he had ended up on his back, when he should have been upright, fighting Heartless. And Sora…Riku suddenly surged upright, startling the brunette, who had just finished off the remaining Heartless. Riku only dimly registered that the voice that had heard had been Sora calling to him, when a massive wave of pain suddenly hit him, making him collapse back onto the ground. Riku tilted his head and tried to focus his eyes on Sora, who had dropped to his hands and knees next to him, "You…are you all right, Sora?"

"I'm fine! I just have a few scratches." Sora shook his head and cast a glance over Riku worriedly. "What about you? One of those Heartless had a sword!" Sora babbled frantically, distressed the more he looked at the extent of his friend's wounds.

Riku offered faint smile, "Obviously it did, which explains why my chest hurts," Riku grit his teeth as the pain he was in started to become unbearable. He let his head rest on the ground, a shuddering sigh escaping his lips, "I'll be all right…not so bad…" Sora was obviously overreacting, since Riku didn't feel as if he had been too badly hurt.

Sora looked at Riku's face, deciding he didn't want to see his friend covered in all of those bloody wounds. There was a hint of disbelief in Sora's voice when he managed to speak, "That last Heartless ran you through the chest with its sword, Riku. It is bad. Can you make it back to town if I help you?"

To his credit, Riku did try to get back up, but flinched in pain as Sora attempted to help him up. Riku didn't see the look of horror cross Sora's face when the brunette glimpsed semi-deep claw marks from a Nightmare Heartless. Riku was concentrating on remaining upright, but even with Sora's help, Riku ended up staggering and dropping back down to the ground.

Sora gaped in utter surprise as Riku's head lolled to one side, unconsciousness. Sora looked around, panicking when he didn't see anyone in sight. They were pretty far from town, but at least he didn't see any more Heartless. Sora looked back down at the prone Riku worriedly, not wanting to shake the injured teen and risk making things worse, "Hey! How am I supposed to get you all the way back to town when you're out? You're way too heavy for me to carry!"

"What are you two doing out here?" A highly exasperated voice questioned, "You know there are more Heartless out here than closer to town. I told you that earlier this morning when you said you were going out to train. You didn't listen very well to me, did you?"

Sora turned around quickly, though he didn't move from his spot next to Riku. Sora was relieved, despite the scowl on the older man's face, "Leon! Help! Riku shoved me out of the way and got hurt!"

Leon uttered a curse and moved more quickly, jumping down to the teen's level. Leon kneeled down next to the still silver-haired teen. Leon took in a sharp breath at the extent of the wounds, before he quickly removed Riku's outer jacket. Leon wrapped the ruined jacket around the teen's chest over the worst of the wounds that he could see, his frown deepening when he felt the claw marks on Riku's back.

"What're you doing?"

Leon shook his head. Sometimes, Sora amazed him with his cluelessness, "I'm trying to stop the blood from flowing or he'll lose too much." Ignoring Sora choking in horror, Leon cast a glance over Riku's upper left arm, where there was a deep, nasty gash. Before Leon could even ask, Sora's jacket was nearly shoved into his face by an increasingly frantic Sora.

Leon secured the jacket snugly around Riku's arm, before carefully picking up the limp teen and immediately headed back in the direction of town.

"Will he be all right, Leon?" Sora questioned softly, following along close behind Leon.

Leon paused, sensing the worry in Sora's voice, before he picked up his pace, "I can't say. We need to get him back to town to see to his wounds. Unless you're able to use a Curaga spell on him to speed up the process?" Leon glanced over his shoulder at Sora in question.

Sora stared at the ground, and sounded even more upset than before, "I can't. I didn't bring any of the spells with me. I need the formula with me to use the higher level spells (1)."

Leon's frown deepened at this. Why would anyone go off on their own if they couldn't heal themselves if they ended up getting hurt? Leon considered scolding the teen for not thinking about his own safety, but Sora appeared to feel miserable enough already with Riku ending up injured while protecting him.

Sora felt horribly guilty about being so focused on improving his skills that he hadn't taken Leon's warning seriously before he had gone out that morning. Sora anxiously turned his attention to Riku's limp form, and could only hope that his friend would be all right. Sora ran a hand across one of his own shoulders, where a shallow gash was, and shuddered softly. It would have been much worse had Riku not intervened when he did.

X-x-x-

Waking up was an incredibly painful experience, the dull throb of his injuries nearly worse than when he had initially received them. Riku had been running on adrenaline at the sight of Sora in danger, and he had acted in an instant with no regards to the consequences. Riku opened his eyes, blinking blearily in confusion at the unfamiliar sight that greeted him, before his mind caught up with him and informed him that he was back in his room at the Radiant Garden Inn. Riku also became aware that his injuries were bandaged, which meant that they had been seen to. This was confirmed when a tugging sensation occurred when he shifted, meaning that some of his wounds had been stitched close, and that meant that he had been more badly injured than he had initially believed, if a cure spell wouldn't work on him. Riku decided not to dwell on that fact, and attempted to block out the pain instead.

"Riku! You're awake!"

Riku tilted his head to the side carefully, and found himself starring at a teary-eyed Sora, who hovered near the edge of the bed, looking relieved yet worried at the same time, "Sora?" Well, at least Sora seemed to be fine, meaning that he had succeeded in preventing any serious harm from being done to his friend.

Sora smiled brightly now that he saw that the silver-haired teen was awake. Sora was glad that Riku recognized him, meaning that he wasn't in too much pain at the moment. At least, as long as the pain medication he had been given lasted. Without warning, Sora dove onto the bed and wrapped his best friend in a tight hug, burying his face against Riku's neck and crying with relief, "I was so worried Riku! You wouldn't wake up after you collapsed! I thought you were going to die! There was…so much blood…" Sora tightened his grasp at the memory, shuddering before he could push the images away.

The hug jostled his wounds, which caused Riku to grunt in pain as the stab wound to his chest started to throb incessantly, stiches tugging and reminding him just how deep the wounds were. With a gasp, Riku brought up his right hand to press against Sora's chest. Riku quickly found out that he couldn't move his left arm much without sending a nasty bolt of pain throughout his body, "Ah! Back _off_, Sora. You're going to make me tear my stitches…"

Sora let go of Riku abruptly at the word 'stitches', cringing in sympathy when he saw Riku wincing after the sudden movement of his body. Sora hadn't meant to do that and hoped that Riku wouldn't be mad at him.

Riku gave Sora a thin smile to show that he wasn't really angry with him. Sora obviously hadn't been thinking about what he was doing, so Riku wouldn't hold it against him. Sora tended to be a bit oblivious in any case, so he wasn't too bothered by the reaction.

Sora sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to make the bed to move and jostle Riku again, "I was scared that you wouldn't wake up and that you'd be dead…" Sora reached out a hand to brush up against Riku's leg lightly, as if to reassure himself that Riku was still there and awake, and that he hadn't imagined things. Sora shook his head, "You were too heavy for me to get you here, but Leon showed up, so he brought you back to the inn."

Riku could tell that Sora was upset, and since something other than a smile didn't suit Sora, Riku attempted to cheer him up, "You need to work out more, Sora, and I don't mean against the Heartless. You need to lift more weights and stuff like that if you want to have more muscle if you ever hope to be useful carting people around when they've been injured." Riku said teasingly, giving Sora's arms an amused look. How Sora could do any damage with his Keyblade was a mystery.

The statement had the desired effect. Though Sora still looked unhappy, he ended up pouting at Riku, "It wouldn't have helped that much. You're just way too tall, and I don't have much more time to get taller."

"Hm, I don't know, maybe you'll just stay as you are. Then I can use your head as an arm rest," Riku responded dryly.

Sora crossed his arms and pouted some more, drawing forth a smile from the silver-haired teen.

Before Sora could say anything, Riku shook his head in amusement, "You were trying to help right before I passed out, so thank you."

Sora shifted a little from where he was seated on the bed, avoiding eye contact, "Yeah, well, you helped me avoid getting taken out by those Heartless." They had been more relentless than usual. Sora's eyes were teary again as he wrapped Riku in another hug, "Idiot. Why did you do that? You didn't have to get yourself so beaten up. It was my fault for going there in the first place."

Riku was silent for a moment, feeling Sora's tears dropping down onto his bare right shoulder. Riku's wounds hadn't been jostled this time, as he could tell that Sora was being more careful this time around. Riku brought up his uninjured arm and returned the hug. Riku's eyes closed briefly, debating with himself whether or not he should do something he had been thinking on and off about for the past year. Coming to a decision, Riku opened his eyes again, and pulled back slightly out of the hug. His eyes met Sora's, the others still sad. Riku moved his hand from Sora's back to rest against the back of his head, tangling in the brown hair.

"Riku?" Sora was a little confused at the way Riku was currently staring at him.

Silent, Riku leaned forward and pressed his lips to Sora's, causing the other teen to freeze in place at the unexpected move. Thinking he may only have one chance at this, Riku ran his tongue experimentally against Sora's lips, causing a gasp to escape from the other teen. Riku slid his tongue into Sora's mouth, deepening the kiss and tasting the other. Peppermint. Sora must have found some mints before coming to visit him in his room. Riku's hand dropped from the back of Sora's head, making its way down to Sora's lower back, before he tugged him closer, wanting more of a taste. Riku felt the brunette start to wriggle, trying to break for air, but not before Sora ended up letting out a soft moan into the kiss. Riku regretfully broke the kiss, as he needed air now as well.

Both teens were gasping for air, and Riku saw that Sora was breathless and blushing. Avoiding eye contact once again, Sora quickly slid backwards out of Riku's grasp, a bit surprised when no protest was made. Riku merely stared at him with intense, calculating eyes. Retreating, Sora muttered something that sounded vaguely like 'breakfast' before he all but ran from the room.

Riku stared at the open door silently, before his actions caught up with him, and the silver-haired teen wondered what in the hell had possessed him to suddenly kiss his best friend. Riku tried to mull it over, but couldn't find any better reason other than he felt that it had been the right thing to do. Especially since he'd been thinking about it over the past few months. Sora always did make him smile more than any other person he knew...

Riku scowled down at his lap. Obviously he was attracted to Sora; otherwise he wouldn't have started to become aroused while kissing him. Which was rather pathetic if that was all it took to set him off. Sora moaning had probably made it worse. Riku hadn't been expecting that kind of response. Riku shook his head and tried to think of anything other than Sora for the moment. While lost in thought, he didn't notice right away that Sora had returned with something to eat and drink. Riku did realize Sora was back fairly quickly, and quietly accepted the food. They ate in silence, before Sora finally broke it, staring down at his empty bowl, as if it held the answers he sought.

"Um, Riku? Why did you…k…kiss me?" Sora finally managed to ask.

Riku didn't miss the faint blush still splashed across Sora's cheeks. He bit into a piece of toast and shrugged, "I don't know. It just felt right." Riku wasn't about to mention the erection he was currently sporting. "Besides, you were here, waiting for me to wake up. You were crying, too, and you were relieved when you saw that I was alive." Riku smirked. "You didn't seem to be bothered by the kiss with the way you reacted. Should I not have done that? Sorry." The apology wasn't exactly truthful.

Sora dropped his gaze again, "You…um…don't have to explain…I…er…noticed that I react differently around you…than Kairi."

Riku's smirk became more pronounced, "Clingy too. I've noticed. I was wondering why you do that only around me. I know you are a normally happy person to begin with, but still." Riku lay back down, resting his head against the pillow and closing his eyes. Riku tensed when he felt the bed shift, and opened his eyes again to find that Sora had lain down on the bed next to him. Riku wasn't sure what to make of that. He assumed that Sora was worried that he wouldn't wake up if he went to sleep. That, however, didn't mean that Sora had to be on the bed to keep an eye on him. Riku wasn't about to complain about the close proximity. Riku side-glanced at Sora, amused to find that the other teen appeared to be nervous. Riku pondered for a moment, before lifting his right hand toward Sora, and sneakily grasped Sora's left hand.

Sora reddened as he felt Riku's hand close around his, and was reduced to incoherent mumbling, uncertain how to respond to Riku's touch. It didn't exactly bother him, but he didn't know what to think of it. Sora freed his hand and hurried out of the room again, leaving behind his wounded friend. Sora needed to sort out his conflicted feelings. He cared about Kairi after all, didn't he? Sora cared about Riku too, but he knew that his reactions tended to be more expressive toward Riku than Kairi.

Sora sighed and headed for the room he was using at the inn, passing by Leon on the way there. Inside the room, Sora leaned up against the door and brought a hand up to his lips, blushing at the memory of how Riku had kissed him. Did that mean that Riku liked him? If so, did that mean that he himself liked Riku if he…enjoyed the kiss? That he was he attracted to him? Sora dug his hands into his hair in frustration, "Ahhh, Rikuuuu. Why did you do that? I don't know what to do…" Sora sunk onto his bed dramatically and groaned. He had enough to deal with already, didn't he? Like training, and wondering when Xehanort would strike. He knew that Lea and Kairi were training with Yen Sid on how to use their Keyblades. Sora brightened. That was it! He could talk to Kairi! She wouldn't laugh at him.

Sora hopped off the bed and went over to a small computer that was on top of the desk. It was connected to Ansem the Wise's main computer back at the castle. Cid had set it up so that Kairi and Lea could stay in contact with him and Riku. Sora poked the webcam (2) to see if it was on, and then input a code that he remembered. The screen showed a room in the Mysterious Tower, "Kairi?" Sora called softly, wondering if she would be there or training at the moment. If so, he'd have to try later.

Lea's face suddenly filled the screen, wearing a grin, "Yo, Sora. What's up?"

"Wah!" Sora exclaimed, flailing and falling backwards to the ground amid Lea's laughter.

"Is that Sora, Lea?" Kairi questioned. She had poked her head into the room and saw Lea near the computer, face nearly against the screen.

Lea backed up and smirked over his shoulder at Kairi, "Yeah, it is. Just saying hi to him. His reactions are always hilarious."

Sora had climbed back onto the chair, rubbing the back of his head ruefully. Kairi appeared on the screen now, sitting down on a chair. Lea was in the background, a smile still on his lips. Sora focused on Kairi, "Can I talk to you, Kairi?" _Without Lea in the room._ Sora mouthed, motioning at Lea over Kairi's shoulder at the other red head.

"Of course you can." Having seen Sora's silent request and motioning at Lea, Kairi promptly turned and shooed Lea out of the room, "Is something wrong? Is Riku all right? Did he wake up?

"Maybe? Riku did wake up though, and he seems to be all right even after all of those injuries. The nurse said I shouldn't use any cure spells on him until he's a bit better. She said something about the muscles needing to heal on their own first…"

"Really? That's great news! I'm so glad that he's going to be all right," Kairi frowned a little when she noticed that Sora had a faint blush on his cheeks, "Are you okay, Sora? You don't look so well." Or was the blush from something that she had been wondering about on and off over the past few years?

"Um, I'm fine, thanks to Riku, but we were talking and he…um…kissed me…" Sora trailed off, thinking again of the not so long ago kiss.

Kairi had an unreadable expression, before she began to smile widely. So it was what she thought. "Oh, he did, did he? Well, what did you say?" Kairi had been wondering if there had been anything between Sora and Riku, as Sora hadn't asked her out yet. Not that she would have gone out with him on a date. Kairi had decided that she was going to wait until she was 19.

Not expecting this kind of response from Kairi, it took Sora a few moments to respond, "Um, I ran out of the room actually."

"After he kissed you?" Kairi nearly rolled her eyes, but wasn't surprised that was how Sora had reacted. Kairi was fairly certain that Riku wasn't offended, and had probably been more amused than anything.

Sora dropped his eyes, "Well, it was after he slipped his tongue in my mouth and I couldn't breathe."

"Wow, a long kiss too." Kairi was surprised at that, not thinking Riku would have done that straight off, as he had to have known that Sora was still…innocent concerning some things. Of the sexual variety.

Sora couldn't figure out why Kairi was sounding so amused at his predicament. He looked back at the screen and asked, rather hesitantly, "Aren't you mad at me? I mean, I like you, but I've never asked you out…or even kissed you."

"I'm not mad at you, Sora. I know you care about me, but I always kind of wondered whether or not you and Riku might care for each other as more than friends. Especially after I hugged you and you only returned it after hesitating, but as soon as you realized that Riku was with us, you cried and held on to his hand for dear life." Kairi wagged a finger at him, "And don't think I didn't notice you two going off to hang out on the island without me." Kairi smiled at Sora shifting in his chair, "So, how do you feel about him?"

"I…don't know? I mean…I didn't stop him from kissing me. It wasn't like he was forcing me into it," Sora fidgeted, "I really don't know what to think about what happened."

"It sounds like you aren't necessarily opposed to the idea if you didn't try and get away from the kiss. Maybe you should try talking to him." Kairi suggested, casting a glance over her shoulder at the door, frowning a little bit.

"…All right, I'll try." Sora said, not sounding too happy about it.

"Call me again if you still don't know what to do."

Sora managed a smile, "Thanks, Kairi." A pause, then a nervous, "Are you sure you're not mad?"

"Of course not. I'm happy for you." Kairi closed the connection before Sora could respond to that and stood up. She walked noiselessly over to the door and, standing to one side, yanked the door open abruptly, causing Lea to tumble into the room, face down. Kairi closed the door as Lea picked himself up off the floor, cursing at his unexpected fall.

"Ow, damn, what did you do that for?" Lea mock pouted at Kairi.

"Eavesdropping are you? That isn't very polite." Kairi smiled mischievously, "And you owe me 500 munny."

Lea gave Kairi his full attention, "What?" The two of them enjoyed making bets about their Keyblade wielding abilities, but only one bet was that much, "They didn't have sex, did they?"

Kairi shook her head, "No, Sora said that Riku kissed him."

Lea smirked, "Oh, is that it? I said I bet you 500 munny that they wouldn't hook up, which means going all the way to third base. A kiss doesn't necessarily mean they'll end up going out with each other."

Kairi put her hands on her hips, facing Lea squarely, "I believe it will, if the way Sora was acting was any indication."

"Uh huh, sure, whatever you say." Lea circled around Kairi and hugged her loosely from behind, arms around her waist as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "How 'bout 100 munny for now?"

"150." Kairi swatted Lea's arms way and shook a finger at him, "And hands off, I'm not dating anyone until I'm 19, which means a little over a year."

Lea backed off with a smirk, "Okay, okay, but don't think I don't notice the way you look at me when we're sparring with our Keyblades."

"I can appreciate the view," Kairi shot back, unashamed. While Lea was lanky and less muscular than Riku, she was allowed to stare when Lea took off his shirt before continuing their spar yesterday.

"Yeah, sure, but I know you want this." Lea put a hand on his hip and cocked it to one side, grinning all the while.

Kairi rolled her eyes, unimpressed with this display, but entertained nonetheless. When behaving like a semi-decent human being, Lea was much more pleasant to be around than when he was Axel. "Come on, I bet Yen Sid is waiting for us."

"After you," Lea said, offering a bow and indicating that Kairi should go through the door first.

A smile danced across her lips as Kairi opened the door, "Why, thank you, Lea." Kairi exited the room, again swatting away Lea's hand that had been about to drape over her shoulders.

Lea ran a hair through his spiked hair, sighing as he trailed after Kairi. Training for the Keyblade was interesting, but he hoped there wouldn't be much reading today.

X-x-x-x

A few days later…

Riku's wounds were healing along fairly well, an occasional cure spell now being used to hasten recovery. Riku had decided to try walking, and had managed to get to the unused lounge of the inn before tiring out. Riku was currently resting on the couch and enjoying the silence, yet was shivering beneath the thin blanket he had found in the room. Vaguely, Riku wondered where Sora had gotten to. The other teen hadn't been speaking to him much those past few days, and when they did manage to have a conversation, Sora ended up talking about the most random of things, never really getting around to a point. This would then lead the brunette to hurry away without any explanation. Riku hoped he hadn't scared off his friend with the kiss he had given him.

The door suddenly banged open, and Riku glanced sleepily over at it in time to see Sora come rushing into the room. The brunette brightened when he spotted Riku, "I heard the nurse say that you were up and walking around. She didn't sound too happy about it."

Sora shuffled awkwardly, remembering Kairi's advice of trying to talk to Riku. Sora had tried and failed several times over the past few days to try and ask Riku about the kiss. Only yesterday, Sora had ended up talking about waffles, receiving a confused look from the silver-haired teen. "Riku?" Sora had to ask before he clammed up and end up talking about the weather or something stupid.

"Hm?" Riku lifted his head, his right hand running over his face in a futile attempt to be fully awake. He had nearly fallen asleep despite being cold.

"How long…when did you start to, you know, think about me as more than a…friend?" Sora asked hesitantly, eyes still on the ground. "Er, that is, why you kissed me, right?" Sora couldn't think of any other reason. Friends didn't kiss each other, especially not on the lips.

Riku closed his eyes momentarily, "Well, every now and again, but not until after you cried when you told me that you looked everywhere for me when you saw me in the World that Never Was."

Sora was silent for a moment, before speaking again, "I…um…it actually started earlier for me…after you got possessed by Ansem…I thought you were gone…and I didn't want that. You weren't you. I didn't know what the feeling was…at the time…" Sora flushed when he noticed that Riku had opened his eyes and had given him his full attention to him, staring at him with nearly unblinking eyes. Sora squeezed his own eyes shut, and continued breathlessly, "I didn't want to say anything stupid that would make you not want to be my friend anymore." Sora blushed more noticeably as he opened his eyes and stared at the ground. It was safer than making eye contact, "When I saw you laying there on the ground in Yen Sid's tower, I was so worried that I'd lost you again. I tried distracting myself, believing Mickey and the others when they said you'd wake up soon. And then you go and get injured protecting me a year after that." Sora walked over to the couch and leaned over Riku, flicking his head lightly, "Don't do that ever again. I'd rather be injured than risk getting you killed."

Riku reached up quickly and swatted the side of Sora's head to fend him off and said, "Love you too, idiot." He expected another blush, but instead received a pout which made him laugh lightly. Sora's reactions could be so endearing sometimes.

Sora shuffled at the awkwardness of the conversation and the fact that Riku had flat out said he loved him. Sora tried to change subjects, his eyes dropping onto the blanket that Riku was resting with, "Why are you underneath a blanket?" He didn't realize the question would plunge him right back to the topic he was trying to avoid.

Riku gave Sora a bit of a look, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He wasn't in the mood for Sora's obliviousness when he was so tired, "Gee, Sora, maybe because I'm cold?" Riku wasn't expecting any confession in return from Sora, as the brunette was too flustered to even think about the implications.

Sora picked up on the sarcastic tone, but didn't let it bother him. He knew that Riku must still be sore, and was obviously exhausted, not being able to get much sleep due to the healing wounds, and the fact that he refused to take more medicine than was necessary. Being injured would have done that to him as well, Sora supposed. Sora pondered for a moment, an idea forming in his mind. He suddenly had a thought, "Hey! I know a way to warm you up."

Before Riku could even ask Sora how, the brunette moved forward toward the couch and promptly dropped right down on top of Riku (being careful of his injuries), resting his head against the crook of the silver-haired teen's neck. Sora held perfectly still, half-horrified that he had been so forward without even asking if it were all right for him to do so.

Riku froze up at the sudden (yet not unwanted) contact, "This isn't…exactly what I thought you meant by warming me up…" Riku said in a strained voice. Sora moved around for a moment, before finding a more comfortable spot, "Well, are you warmer?"

Riku did have to admit that the body heat from his friend was warming him up, but it was also warming him up in a way that he didn't want Sora to know about. Riku bit his lip as Sora shifted again. However, the other teen would find out soon enough if he remained laying chest to chest with him like this.

Sora's lips pressed into a thin frown, "Hey, Riku? Are you all right? You seem a bit tense."

Riku choked back a gasp as Sora moved again, unfortunately turning him on even further. "You think?" He managed bitingly. If Sora only knew…

Sora wasn't listening, still preoccupied, "Seriously, you shouldn't be tensing up like that, even if your injuries are better. Are the stitches still bothering you?" Sora started to run a hand down Riku's side, to see if any of the bandages had come loose to see if that was what was causing Riku to tense up. Sora was quite taken aback when Riku jerked at his touch and grasped the offending hand with his uninjured one when Sora reached his waist. Sora, startled, held perfectly still, utterly clueless as to why Riku had done that.

Riku struggled to keep any hint of lust out of his voice as he spoke, "Sora? Could you use cure on my arm? I think it's…nearly healed." He didn't want to tell Sora that he wanted use of his limb so that he could pin the other teen to the couch, although he didn't want to go too far and scare him off.

Not stopping to question his friend, Sora summoned his Keyblade, and held it over Riku's left arm, "Cure!" Sora had remembered to bring along the formulas after his near disaster with the Heartless, so that he could heal himself and anyone else should the need arise. Sora dismissed the Keyblade and dropped the hand not being held on to tightly back down to Riku's waist, insanely curious now to find out why Riku was acting so oddly. Unintentionally Sora brushed his hand between Riku's legs on the way to the other's leg. Sora immediately started to turn red in the face when he realized the reason behind Riku's sudden tenseness.

There was a long, embarrassing silence, and Sora finally managed to make eye contact with Riku, aware that his hand was still hovering over the spot. "Um, Riku? Why are you…um…hard?"

Riku groaned and freed Sora's hand from his grasp, "Dammit, Sora."

Sora slowly and carefully moved his hand to Riku's waist, not sure if that made things better or worse, "Is it…because of me?"

Sora yelped in surprise as Riku twisted beneath him suddenly, flipping their positions so that Sora found himself pinned to the couch with Riku looming over him.

Sora managed a quick,"R...Riku?" before gasping as Riku swooped down on him and smothered him with a rough kiss. Sora jerked his head back, gasping for air, "R…Riku…wha…!" Sora's head was forced back down against the couch as Riku brought their lips together again, tongue dancing out across Sora's lips. "Ah!" Sora gasped again, as Riku ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth. Sora, after hesitating, kissed Riku back, not noticing that Riku was gripping his shoulders tightly to hold him down. Riku broke the kiss abruptly, and Sora, breathing hard and heart racing, stared up at Riku, speechless.

Riku was also breathing heavily, but he managed to scowl down at his friend, "Of course it's because of you. You started it by dropping down on top of me like that." Riku grumbled before he moved one of his knees so that it came between Sora's legs, and gave the other teen's crotch a nudge. It drew forth a surprised, turned on gasp. Riku nudged the spot again, knowing that he had the other's complete attention.

Sora was steadily turning redder and redder, unable to form any words as Riku had just nudged him between the legs again with his knee. Sora squirmed as Riku seized his shirt. Sora shivered involuntarily as Riku breathed in his ear, "Want to see how it feels?" Riku worked Sora's shirt off in record time, startling the brunette, and drawing forth another gasp as he placed an open mouthed kiss against Sora's throat. Riku smirked against Sora, feeling the other swallow roughly.

Sora twitched as his hands reached up and gripped Riku's shoulders tightly as Riku started kissing his way down to Sora's chest, "R…Riku…what are you..Ah!"

Riku had lifted his head up and nipped the side of Sora's throat to silence him, before dropping back down, freeing himself of Sora's hands as he focused his attention on the brunettes chest.

Sora's hands tangled themselves into Riku's short hair instead, whining and writhing as Riku went after his sensitive nipples with his tongue, fingers teasing him. Sora was starting to feel hot and bothered, his pants beginning to feel just a bit too snug. It didn't help that Riku was nudging a knee between his legs every so often, "R…Riku…what ….ah….no...s…stop…I can't…"

Riku slid a hand down to Sora's side, and hummed in response, sliding his other hand along the other teen's stomach, causing it to heave and shiver beneath his touch. Riku was getting further aroused himself when Sora started tugging at his hair and panting his name. Riku swayed suddenly, overcome with a sudden wave of dizziness, "D…damn…" He muttered, before collapsing on top of Sora with a sigh as he passed out.

This left a very aroused Sora with nowhere to go. He was unable to take care of himself, with Riku pinning him down to the couch with his weight.

Sora squeezed his eyes shut tightly and pulled Riku up so that he could wrap his arms around the silver-haired teen's neck. "Rikuuuu…you can't just do that to me and then leave me hanging…Riku!"

Riku remained fast asleep, unaware of Sora's uncomfortable wriggling and whining about him being a mean person.

Later that night…

"…and then I ended up turning him by lying down on top of him! I'm such an idiot!"

Kairi was trying to be sympathetic to an embarrassed and distraught Sora. After reassuring him as much as she could, she disconnected from the computer, at the same time flicking Lea on the nose when he leaned down over her.

"Ah! Hey! I was just trying to see if he was blushing." Lea said in a hurt tone, and rubbed at his nose lightly. It hadn't really hurt, but still.

"Of course he was blushing. Riku had started making out with him. Of course, Riku ended up fainting, leaving Sora with a…" Kairi waved her hand.

Lea grinned, "Left him without taking care of his erection. Poor Sora." He didn't sound sincere with a small grin still on his face.

Kairi shook her head, "Really, Lea, Sora was asking my opinion about the situation, not that."

Lea left the room, still amused, "I still think that Sora's going to run off in horror once Riku fully recovers."

A few months later…

Riku glanced about warily as he walked along a hall of the inn, going to his room. Riku sighed, feeling guilty, despite really needing to be alone. Preferably, in the bathroom. He had been avoiding Sora lately, as he didn't want to scare Sora off with any forward advances when he couldn't tell how Sora felt about them, especially after their impromptu make out session on the couch. Riku opened and closed the door to the room he was staying in and sighed again. Riku wasn't sure whether Sora would be interested in any relationship other than friendship. Riku, lost in thought, didn't realize that he had left his door unlocked. Riku sat down on the bed, running a hand through his hair. He had seen Sora on the way to his room, and had seen the other giving him a pout for avoiding him, which had somehow set him off. He hadn't even been kissing Sora. Riku had nearly run all the way back to his bedroom, before anyone, especially Sora, noticed that his pants had become uncomfortably tight.

Riku had thought to try to relieve himself, but didn't want to take the chance of having Sora knock on his door or something, to ask him why he'd been avoiding him. After trying to ignore it, Riku finally gave in and slipped a hand down his pants, and into his boxers, his breath hitching. It was a little different as of late, as he'd be thinking about Sora, and the ways the other teen could set him off with the stupidest of things. Riku bit his lip lightly and sped up, wanting his arousal gone so that he could go back to worrying about training and mundane things like that, "S…Sora…" Riku panted lightly, so caught up in what he was doing that he didn't hear the door lock. The first clue Riku got that something was amiss was when he sensed that someone was in the room with him.

"You've been avoiding me lately." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. From a rather miffed and hurt sounding Sora.

Riku quickly yanked his hand out of his boxers, and hoped that Sora hadn't heard him panting his name. Shaking out his short hair, Riku eyed Sora, who just sat down on the edge of the bed. Riku was aware that the brown-haired teen was able to see that he was fidgeting, and hoped it wouldn't be brought up in conversation. Riku normally didn't fidget.

"Yeah, and what about it? I do need time alone." Riku responded, before mentally smacking himself. That sounded like he wanted time away from Sora.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?"

Riku shook his head, slightly irritated that Sora would think something he did would make Riku not want to…Riku sighed. In a way he did, by the way he reacted around him. "Sora, can we talk about this later. I need to…"

"To what? Walk away again? Jump through the window two stories up like last night to avoid me? Come on Riku, what's wrong?" Sora was wearing an uncharacteristic scowl.

Riku twitched at the sight, thought momentarily, before he gripped one of Sora's arm and tugged, causing Sora to fall on the bed. With one quick motion, Riku had pinned Sora beneath the sheets.

"R…Riku?" Sora stuttered, taken aback. He gulped when Riku brought his face close and breathed in his ear.

"I was in the middle of something," Riku growled, lightly thwacking the inside of one of Sora's thighs, close enough to give Sora the idea.

Sora's face flushed at this and just what he had walked into. He spoke in a small voice, "Um… do you need to go to the bathroom quick?"

"So I can finish jacking off?" Riku input helpfully, grinning evilly when Sora turned beet red.

Sora flushed and nodded, "If you have to put it that way…" When Riku said nothing in response, Sora tried to not think about laying on the bed with a horny Riku pinning him down. Instead, he put voice to one of the things that had been bothering him, "I was kind of wondering if you were in your right mind, when you were on the couch that day and…pinning me down. I mean, you were injured, so were you thinking clearly?"

Riku sat up, freeing Sora and crossing his arms to stare levelly at him, "I was thinking clearly, Sora. My body just couldn't keep up with me." Riku made eye contact with Sora and smiled lightly, "So, Sora? Did you come to any decisions?" Riku didn't expect Sora to do anything other than to stare up at him wordlessly, so Riku was pleased when Sora rose from the bed and gave him a tentative hug.

Sora pulled back almost immediately, and looked up at Riku with another uncharacteristic expression, a glare, while he jabbed him in the side, "Don't ever leave me like that again. I couldn't even go relieve myself." Sora gave Riku a sheepish smile, "And…well…you pinning me down just now…I…I think I need to go to the bathroom too." Sora blushed again as he realized when he saw Riku smirk in amusement, but didn't protest when the silver-haired teen leaned over and caught him in a brief kiss.

Riku glanced down with a lazy tilt of his head and saw that Sora was in the same position as him now, and smiled thinly, "You get hot and bothered just by being pinned down and kissed?" Seeing Sora still looking away, Riku's demeanor shifted and he leaned toward Sora with a glint in his eyes. He couldn't wait after all, with the way that Sora was now fidgeting and being bashful all at once, "Sora…" He breathed, trying and failing to contain the husky need in his tone of voice. Although, if Sora wanted him to leave him alone, he would, but he would be disappointed.

Riku smirked as he shoved Sora back down on the bed, though Sora propped himself up on his elbows and gave Riku a confused look. Riku tilted his head up haughtily in response, "As long as you behave yourself, I won't leave you hanging like that again." Riku's smirk vanished as one hand reached up and started to unbutton his vest, "In any case, I'm feeling much better."

Sora froze, wondering what was going on in Riku's mind and what the other wanted to do to him. Sora's hands went to the sheets and clutched them with his hands as Riku slid close, hovering over him, the smirk returnng faintly. Sora's heart leapt as Riku leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "Want me to take care of it, Sora?" Sora shuddered as Riku's breath tickled his ear as he pulled back. "Riku…I…!" Sora's response was cut off as Riku drew him into a kiss again, and felt Riku's fingers working his shirt off. Sora turned slightly so Riku could remove the shirt all the way, and moaned into the long kiss as Riku deepened it, his hands ghosting along the brown-haired teen's sides.

Sora shivered and tilted his head as Riku broke the kiss and began trailing soft kisses along his neck, nipping along the collarbone, "Ah…!" Sora writhed helplessly as Riku toyed with his nipples, rubbing and licking and biting the nubs, doing his best to drive him crazy. Sora sucked in a gasp of air as one of Riku's hands rubbed against his crotch, teasing the arousal trapped beneath the fabric. "Ah…Riku…"

Riku moved his head lower down Sora's body, nuzzling his heaving stomach, before his tongue darted out and dipped into his navel. Sora bucked in surprise at the sensation, moaning again as the move had caused Riku's hand to rub against his pants harder, "Ri…ku…" Sora panted, shaking. Riku removed Sora's belt and slid his pants down and off, tossing them aside. He leaned forward and nuzzled the insides of Sora's thighs, drawing forth a thin whine from Sora at the teasing. Riku smirked and gripped Sora's boxers with both hands and removed them with a smooth motion, hand darting forward as soon as the fabric was out of the way.

Sora shuddered violently, and Riku smirked, "Didn't think you would cum so quickly. I barely did anything"

The sarcasm cut through the haze in Sora's mind and he spoke indignantly, "No I don't! I…ah!" Sora dropped his head back, and his mind blacked out. When he regained his senses, he realized that Riku had moved completely off the bed. Sora propped himself up in time to see Riku heading toward the bathroom, "Riku?" Sora's mind blanked momentarily at the look Riku sent over his shoulder, lusty and irritated. Sora looked away, blushing faintly, "Um…it isn't fair…that I only get…um…taken care of…right?" Sora looked up when Riku sighed.

Riku shook his head, trying to avoid staring too much at a naked and confused Sora, "I really don't think you're ready for…for sex…"

"Don't treat me like a kid, Riku. I am 18, you know."

Riku gave Sora a bit of a look, but sighed, because truthfully, with Sora moaning so much he wanted to have his way with him even before he entered the room and interrupted him. He just hadn't wanted to chase Sora away…but now…if Sora wanted to try….Riku searched through some drawers and he headed back for the bed and slid up close to Sora again, who unconsciously leaned away. Sora noted the bottle of lotion and decided he didn't want to ask about it. Riku looked Sora in the eyes so that he knew the other teen would hear him, "If it gets to be too much, let me know, okay?"

Sora nodded, before reaching out and gripping Riku's shirt, "Take it off already."

Riku raised a questioning eyebrow, but got undressed, leaning out of reach of Sora and tossing the clothes carelessly onto the floor. Riku slipped his own boxers off and dropped them, blinking as Sora pouted, "What?"

Sora crossed his arms, "No fair, why are you bigger than me? You're already too tall."

Riku was startled into laughter, "That's what you're upset about?" Riku smirked again, "Shouldn't you be more concerned with where I'm going to put it?"

Sora flushed at the thought and looked away, before grunting as Riku lay down on top of him and drew him into a kiss.

"Don't worry, I'll go slowly," Riku breathed, and Sora grunted in surprise as Riku shoved his legs apart, "Riku…what're you...mpf!"

Sora gasped as two of Riku's fingers found their way into his mouth, and blushed at Riku's curt order to suck them. Sora closed his eyes and did as he was asked, blushing in further embarrassment as Riku's other hand trailed down his side, to his hip, then the inside of his thigh. Sora whined around Riku's fingers as Riku's free hand went lower.

"Breathe, Sora." Riku murmured, really hoping that Sora wouldn't scream with what he was about to do.

Sora winced in pain at the intrusion, and sucked harder on Riku's fingers to try and distract himself, unaware that Riku shuddered at the sensation. Sora let out a strangled gasp as the sensation became more intrusive, the pain suddenly too much. Sora coughed as Riku removed his fingers but Sora didn't have any time to catch his breath, as his head was tilted back and Riku kissed him, sliding his tongue into the others mouth. Sora felt himself relax and his mind had blanked out at the deep, drawn out kiss, making him feel like Riku was kissing him as if he was the last person in all of the worlds. Sora panted for breath when he was finally released from the kiss. Sora flinched when the sensation was suddenly gone.

"Want to stop?" Riku questioned. If Sora did want to stop, Riku was going to have to get to a bathroom, and fast, limping from his wounds or not.

Sora blinked up at Riku dazedly, before he shook his head, "No...s'fine." It had been a weird feeling but the desperate way in which Riku had kissed him had made up his mind, even if he was still a little shy and embarrassed about the whole situation he found himself in.

Riku leaned forward and bumped his forehead against Sora's fondly, wincing in sympathy when Sora grabbed him and yelped in pain. Riku quickly ducked his head down to kiss Sora again, his freehand reaching down in an attempt to distract him. Within moments, Riku was fully sheathed, and he broke the kiss, breathing hard.

Sora wrapped his arms around Riku's neck, mumbling with a blush, "M…move, Riku."

Riku pulled back slightly and thrust lightly, gritting his teeth as Sora let out a startled cry. Riku tried again, but with the same result, which frustrated him because he didn't want to hurt Sora.

Sora had his eyes squeezed tightly, "Ri…Riku…I can't…ah...hah…"

Riku growled something unintelligable, angry with himself for doing this so soon, and shifted slightly before trying again. This time Sora's cry was one of pleasure, and the pressure that had been there was now gone, allowing Riku to move more smoothly.

Steadying himself, Riku fell into a medium pace, drawing forth moans and soft cries as the sensation became more pleasurable. Sora tightened his arms around Riku's neck, "Ah…Riku...ah…f…faster…please…" Riku shuddered violently at the need that was evident in Sora's voice, and, against his better judgment, began to thrust more powerfully, causing Sora's cries to become more numerous and erratic. Sora was shaking from effort, and Riku could tell that he was getting close.

Sora, overwhelmed by all of the feelings he was having, and let out a longer scream as he peaked.

Riku followed suit, all but collapsing on top of him. Panting raggedly, Riku shakily pulled out and sagged onto the bed next to Sora with low sigh. Sora was spent, and laid where he was, trying to get his breath back under control, acutely aware of the other's presence next to him, and flushing as he realized what had just occurred between them.

Riku, too weary to do much else either, spooned against Sora's smaller body, tilting the other teen's head in order to give him a kiss.

Sora smiled wearily, "Love you…too..." He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, Riku following suit soon after, arm wrapped about Sora's waist to keep him close.

The next morning…

Leon was attempting to find the two Keyblade wielders, as he needed some back up against some Heartless that had shown up just outside of town. Leon had been so exhausted the night before that he had ended up crashing on the couch in the lounge of the inn. He needed to change out of his current clothes, as they were filthy from falling onto dirt after being batted several times away by the larger Heartless. Change first, then find the teens and wake them up.

Leon reached his inn room, and reached out a hand to open the door, only to find it locked. That was odd, when he thought that he had left it unlocked the night before. Shrugging to himself, Leon withdrew a key from his pocket, and opened the door. Leon took a few steps into the room, before coming to a halt at the sight that greeted him. Leon was extremely displeased to find Riku and Sora, buck-naked, in his bed. Oddly, Riku hadn't been thinking clearly the night before, and had gone into the wrong room. Riku had been staying in a room two doors down from Leon's room.

Sora was incredibly embarrassed, and had his face buried against the crook of Riku's neck, clinging to him. Riku, however, was unimpressed and quite annoyed that they had been interrupted in their early morning make out session.

Leon turned and left the room abruptly, where he leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms, "Get dressed, you two. We need you out there. A large group of Heartless has appeared just outside of town and it's a bit much for us to handle on our own."

Sora turned his head so that it rested on Riku's chest and faced the door as he whined, "But Leonnn, I can't move very well."

Leon rested his head in one hand, pushing the mental images that may have formed to a far place in the back of his mind. Unsympathetic, Leon spoke tonelessly, "Well then, you can hobble."

Riku snorted in amusement and trailed a hand down Sora's back, causing Sora to arch into his touch, which in turn caused brunette to swat Riku's stomach, which merely made Riku let out a short laugh and pull Sora close so they could kiss. "You can use magic, that way you just have to stay upright."

Leon sighed when he heard the sound of the sheets rustling and Sora moaning softly at whatever the hell Riku was doing to him. Leon turned his head when he heard footsteps approaching, and saw that it was Lea and Kairi. Had they just arrived? Leon had thought they would still be at The Mysterious Tower, training.

"Good morning, Leon." Kairi said brightly. Lea raised a hand to give a lazy wave.

Leon inclined his head in acknowledgment, and then indicated the open door, "I wouldn't go in there, if I were you. I wish I hadn't gone in there at all." Leon was taken aback at the way Kairi's smile changed.

Kairi turned and grinned up at Lea sweetly, "I win. Pay up the other 350 munny."

Lea glanced down at her, to Leon's displeased expression, then back to Kairi. "No way. They actually did it?"

Leon walked off wordlessly as Kairi and Lea poked their head into the room, though whether to harass or congratulate Sora and Riku, Leon really didn't care, "Just get them to come out. There really are a lot of Heartless this time around, and we need all the help we can get."

Sora let go of Riku and slid beneath the blankets in utter humiliation when Lea and Kairi peered into the room. Riku sat up, sighing irritably, yet careful to keep the sheets over his lap. Riku fixed a disproving glare on the red heads smiling in the doorway, "What is it, Kairi?"

"Oh, I just wanted to prove to Lea that I was right about you and Sora," Kairi said cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by the sight of a half-naked Riku.

Lea smirked as Riku's irritable look increased, "Hey, I didn't think you guys were actually going to have sex." Lea grinned when he heard Sora make an embarrassed squeak, "I was surprised they didn't go at it in Yen Sid's tower, with the way Sora was hugging Riku."

Kairi glanced up at him again, "Well Sora_ is_ dense."

Lea took the chance to sneakily drape an arm over Kairi's shoulders, "I was actually convinced that Sora loved Kairi, but lucky me, I get a shot with her after all." Lea danced away from Kairi elbowing him in his stomach.

As Sora seemed intent on staying beneath the sheets, Riku fixed Lea with a glare, "Keep your hands off her if she doesn't want you to touch her."

Lea held up his hands in surrender, not wanting to get into an argument or a fight. He settled for winking at Riku instead, "Hope you weren't too rough with him." Lea left, chuckling to himself.

"You two better hurry up and get dressed. You can make out and have sex later." Kairi stated matter-of-factly, and left the room, leaving Riku with a frown and Sora choking in further embarrassment at Kairi's cheerful tone.

Riku let out a low sigh of disappointment, and then prodded the prone Sora, "Come on, I'll get you clothes."

"But Rikuuuu…" Sora groaned and poked his head from beneath the sheets. His complaint was forgotten as he watched Riku move around the room, picking up discarded clothes. Sora felt guilty as he spotted the scars from the wounds Riku had received months ago.

Riku deposited the clothes on the bed, and caught Sora's expression. Riku leaned in and pecked Sora on the cheek lightly, "It's not your fault, Sora. I wasn't thinking when I saw you were in trouble, other than to go help you." Riku picked up a shirt and dropped it on Sora's head, "Now, get dressed. We'll continue this later."

X-x-x-

Leon entered the Radiant Garden Inn, thinking that the Heartless trouble had been dealt with fairly quickly with four Keyblade wielders. They had taken care of the enemies in short order, and Sora had been praising Kairi and Lea with how much better they were with their Keyblades. Leon pushed open the lounge door with a shoulder, looking forward to a quiet evening before going to sleep. He came to an abrupt halt, averting his eyes quickly, "Damn it you two. Can't you stay in your room? Or at least lock the door?"

On the couch, Riku glanced up from where his head was resting on the armrest of the couch. Sora had pressed himself down against Riku's chest, unable to go anywhere, as Riku had wrapped his arms around his back to keep him where he was, "Do you mind?" Riku hissed, not at all pleased at being interrupted again.

Sora, at least, had the decency to sound embarrassed, "Sorry, Leon," Sora mumbled from the vicinity of Riku's chest.

Leon retreated from the room without a word, and Riku glanced down at Sora's head. "Not in the mood now?" Riku smirked as Sora gripped him tightly and poked him sharply in the side.

"Don't you dare stop halfway. I was ready to wait till tomorrow, but you wanted to do it again. You're going to have to carry me back to the room; I doubt I'll be able to walk."

"Aren't you being bossy?" Riku murmured against Sora's lips, as both soon forgot the interruption.

-x-x-

Outside of the lounge, Kirin and Lea were discussing what Yen Sid had told them earlier, and passed by Leon on the way, expecting to enter the lounge and find it empty.

There was a long, awkward silence.

Kairi gasped and looked away, blushing at the sight of her friends naked and in a very intimate position, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sora, Riku. I didn't think you'd be in here."

Lea, meanwhile, dissolved into howling laughter, and collapsed in a heap on the ground, too entertained for words. The looks on their faces were priceless.

Sora looked like he wanted to curl up and die in embarrassment. Riku, on the other hand, looked to be trying very hard to remain calm, and not murder any red heads that day.

Lea nodded shakily, "Yep, you were right, Kairi, they are totally_ into_ each other."

"Lea, stop it!" Kairi said from behind her hands, trying very hard not to laugh herself.

"…" Sora buried his face against Riku's chest again, too embarrassed to say anything.

"Get the hell out. We're busy here." Riku grit through his teeth, trying not to move.

Kairi tugged Lea out of the room, the red haired man still laughing his head off.

The door shut once more.

When Lea had quieted down, Kairi spoke up softly, "I am happy for them."

"…"

Kairi tilted her head to look up at Lea and shook her head at his expression, before leaning up on tip toe and kissing his cheek lightly. Kairi started to walk off down the hall, "One year, Lea, and I'll think about it."

Lea watched Kairi walk away, before following after her with a smile. He could wait a year, so long as Xehanort and his group of idiots didn't get them killed in the meantime. Lea wondered vaguely if Sora and Riku would be all right. Lea stopped short when he spotted Ienzo hurrying along the hall past Kairi, and toward him.

"Ienzo?" Lea asked in greeting. He was surprised to see the other man. He was still waiting to see if there were any hard feelings about what he had done to Zexion as Axel. Nothing had been brought up, but Lea still wondered if there'd be any reprecussions from the shorter man.

Ienzo doubled over before Lea, trying to catch his breath, "There are Heartless….coming in droves into the castle. Even and Dilan are incapacitated and Aeleus can't hold them off forever."

"Kairi!" Lea shouted, dashing past Ienzo. Kairi hurried after Lea, who called to Leon and let him know the situation.

Ienzo, winded from the run from the Heartless, headed for the lounge. Ienzo thought he heard something, so he cracked the door open and spoke mildly, "Is there someone in here?" He was taken aback at the strength of the response.

"Yes, there is! Why is everyone interrupting us today?" Riku snarled vehemently.

Ienzo was still sensitive to smell and he figured the effects of his nobody counterpart would fade eventually. Ienzo wrinkled his nose. Sooner would be better, so he wouldn't be subjected to these kinds of things. "Well, I would have asked you two for help as well, but as you're intimately occupied, I would guess not." Ienzo closed the door and walked off, contemplating whether he and the others should come to town instead of staying at the castle, if the Heartless were starting to show up more frequently.

Riku and Sora were able to be alone for the rest of the evening uninterrupted, which vastly improved the silver-haired teen's mood.

The next few weeks involved sparse Heartless containment, allowing for Sora and Riku to spend a majority of their time together. The down time didn't last for long, however.

Xehanort soon made himself known, and preparations had to be completed before going to face the former Keyblade Master and his twisted deigns of creating the X-blade to bring forth Kingdom Hearts.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(1) I like the idea of Sora needing formulas for magic, since if you didn't have the command in the deck you couldn't use it in KH3D, which happened a few times, casuing Sora to get knocked out fairly quickly while playing critical mode.

(2) The computers were advanced in the game, and I liked the idea of them using webcams.

I felt like writing some soriku with a plot of some kind and not just having them throw themselves at each other out of the blue. –shrug- I enjoy writing humor, and I'm really starting to like writing romance with humor in it. I feel like I'm getting better at it, though obviously that was my first time writing a (short) lemon. Tried to gloss it over so it wouldn't be graphic, but I don't know how it turned out. I thought it read all right. If not I can cut it out if it's too awkward sounding in the story itself. The story already turned out a lot longer than I originally thought it would be.

I'll probably end up going back through to edit it at some point, but for now I think it's fine (There's likely some past/present tense issues, but I don't think it affects the story too much).


End file.
